Zadar
Croatia
A Roman peninsula town where the sea plays the steps of the waterfront, with an archipelago in front of it
Photo by Nazrin Babashova on Unsplash
Photos by Bas van den Eijkhof, Linda Gerbec, Lucas Messere and Linda Gerbec on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Croatia
May to June, and September to October — the sea stays warm well into autumn
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 125mm in Nov
Where it is
44.12°N, 15.23°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Sit on the Sea Organ steps at sunset and stay for the Greeting to the Sun
- Take a barkajol across the harbour, which is the shortest boat ride in Croatia
- Ferry to Ugljan for a day of swimming and olive groves
- Book a boat to the Kornati or Telašćica rather than a coach to Plitvice if you have only one day
- Base yourself here for Krka, Paklenica and Nin, which are all within an hour
Zadar travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Croatia
Mid-rangeEuro since 2023. Zadar is cheaper than Split and much cheaper than Dubrovnik, and the islands opposite cost less again outside high summer.
ATMs & cards
Use Zagrebačka banka, PBZ, Erste or OTP machines. Skip the Euronet machines on Kalelarga and along the waterfront. Decline conversion.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- machines on Kalelarga and the waterfront
Use these instead
- Zagrebačka banka
- PBZ
- Erste
- OTP
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Croatia
Very safeVery safe. The bura, the cold north wind, can stop the island ferries with little warning, and the rocky waterfront has sea urchins. Do not swim off the Sea Organ steps in any swell: the same waves that play it drag at whoever is in front of it.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the Sea Organ steps — in any swell — the waves that play it pull at swimmers
- the rocky entries along the Riva and at Kolovare — sea urchins and slippery stone; water shoes
- the bura — it cancels island ferries and catamarans at short notice, so do not plan a flight around the last boat back
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Croatia visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Croatia
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for inland forest areas
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Coastal towns have clinics geared to the tourist season; islands are thinner, and serious cases go to Split or Zagreb.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodOrder fish by weight in a konoba and ask what came in that morning. Pag lamb and Pag cheese come from the island just to the north. Maraschino, the cherry liqueur, has been made in Zadar since the Venetians and turns up in every dessert.
Travel tipsNightlife
A university town with a long summer: bars in the old town lanes, the waterfront at dusk, and the summer festivals on the coast around it.
- Kalelarga — and the lanes off it, for the café-bars
- Varoš — the old quarter of small bars on the south side of the peninsula
- the Riva — the evening walk to the Sea Organ before any of it
Closing: Old town bars around 01:00, later in high summer.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- Against a taxi
- Well under the street taxis, which is why the taxi drivers protested about it for years.
On the islands supply collapses out of season — in November a car may be twenty minutes away or nowhere.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Zagreb — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Croatia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Croatian
- HelloDobar danDO-bar dan
- PleaseMolimMO-leem
- Thank youHvalaHVA-la
- Yes / NoDa / Neda / neh
4 more phrases
- Excuse meOprostiteo-PROS-ti-teh
- How much is it?Koliko košta?KO-li-ko KOSH-ta
- The bill, pleaseRačun, molimRA-choon
- Cheers!Živjeli!ZHIV-yeh-li
Religion
Catholic
Strongly Catholic, particularly along the coast and in Dalmatia. Sunday Mass fills churches that are otherwise full of tourists.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Cover shoulders and knees to enter churches
- Greet with dobar dan on entering shops and restaurants
- Take coffee slowly — a kava can last an hour and that is the point
- Try the local wine rather than defaulting to Italian
Don't
- Do not call Croatia part of the Balkans casually, and avoid glib talk about the 1990s war
- Do not wear swimwear away from the beach; several coastal towns fine it
- Do not tip more than rounding up
- Do not compare Croatian to Serbian in company
Where to stay in Zadar
No Holistay rentals in Zadar yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Zadar on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Zadar ZAD
25 minfrom the airport· 10 km as the crow flies
Airport bus to the old town, 25 min.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
